Bigfoot BFF Page 3 - Some Free Books For Kids

Noah couldn’t get that big hairy beast out of his mind either. He thought they were gonners for sure when the creature was able to climb out so quickly. It was much more agile than it looked. It had long hair all over its body but he could see the muscles rippling under that fur. The closest thing he could think of to compare would be the muscles seen on a horse. He did have to admit that once it was standing over them that even though he was terrified there was a part of him that could see the beast’s eyes had a gentleness about them. It made him feel both safe and scared. Then he smelled the same odor he had encountered when near the bigfoot. Was he reliving the moment?

Rev decided to have one more look around with his night vision goggles before entering the tent and calling it a night. He wasn’t all that thrilled about being the last one standing outside the tent but then he reminded himself that he wasn’t any safer inside; it just felt that way. He was careful to keep the campfire to his back so not to blind himself. Then he gave the area a good look around. Something moved! He saw it but only for a second. Looking through night vision goggles you see everything in shades of black and white. The darkest things are the trees and anything living is usually slightly lighter shade and they are visible as long as they are not blocked by something darker. So what Rev was seeing was just a slightly less grey colored movement behind the many trees and shrubs that made up the forest. He also could hear it moving.

“Hey guys. Its back. I saw it move but couldn’t tell what it could be.” Rev said, then he continued to look around with the goggles. “I am just picking up glimpses of it but I’m pretty sure it is circling us.”

Noah came back out of the tent and put a little more wood on the fire. “Maybe we should have one person stay awake and keep guard. You want to take the first two hours?”

“Sure.” Rev said. “Seeing as how I already have the goggles on. You guys go ahead and get some sleep. I will wake one of you in two hours.”

Rev kept watch but again things died down. After about ninety minutes he decided there was really no reason for anybody to keep watch so he entered the tent and went to sleep. Nobody was awakened. That is, until the noises started again. It was the middle of the night when Ohpra was woke by the sound of something outside her side of the tent. She could hear it breathing.

Ohpra laid awake in the darkness listening to whatever it was just outside their tent move around. Trying not to give away that she was awake, she started feeling around in the dark with her foot for Rev or Noah. When she felt her foot make contact with another human being, she began to try and shake them awake using just that one foot
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“Is it my turn?” Noah asked in a sleepy voice.

“Shhh.” Ohpra said. “Something is outside the tent.”

Now Noah was fully awake. He kept still and whispered for Ohpra to do the same. “Don’t say anything or move around.”

Ohpra didn’t say anything and she didn’t move around either. Noah felt around in his pack and found the bear spray. He sat awake the rest of the night with the bear spray in his hand. Ohpra fell back asleep after about an hour. The noises outside the tent kept up the rest of the night but they never came closer to the tent. It sounded like whatever was out there was circling the tent but never coming closer. When morning came Noah was tired but eager to move away from that camp site.

They spent the day hiking up to a view point where they were able to make camp a short distance from the view point. They were up quite a ways on the mountain and the campsite area provided a good view but nothing compared to the view point of course. Surrounding their campsite were the tents of other campers. Beyond the campsite the wilderness once again took over, filling the landscape with scrub brush and some trees. The weather was holding out and very comfortable. Especially during the less direct hours of sunlight. Now that it was nearing sunset a breeze had picked up to help cool the land. The four cooked a dinner of hotdogs again. They were getting burned out on them and there were more left over this night than had been in the past.

“There’s still a couple of hotdogs left out of this package. Anybody want another one?” BG asked his friends.

“I’ve had all the hotdogs I can stand for a while.” Rev said. “A person can only handle so many beaks and butts before they need something else to eat.”

“Don’t forget the feet and eyeballs.” Noah said laughing. “I love me some chicken eyes mixed with beaks and butts. That’s some good dinner there. Mmm-mm.”

“Be sure and bury the hotdogs you don’t eat or we will be inviting bears. Tonight I would like to not have any surprises.” Ohpra said expressly to BG. It was his night to cook.

After everyone had eaten they watched the sun set together. It was dark fast after sunset. The moon was not yet out. BG still hadn’t dug a hole to put the hotdogs in, and now that it was dark he didn’t want to get very far from camp. He tried burying them not too far from camp but the ground was too rocky and he could not dig a hole. Instead of going out a little further he just threw the hotdogs as far as he could and went back to their tent sticking the hot dog wrapper in his back pocket so not to litter.

BG and Noah were asleep before their heads hit the pillow. Ohpra and Rev laid in their sleeping bags listening to the night sounds and the muffled voices of other campers.

“Opes, you awake?” Rev asked in a whisper. It was almost pitch dark in the tent. If not for the faint orange from their campfire reflecting off the top of the tent, it would have been so very dark that you could not tell the difference between if your eyes were open or shut.

“Yeah.”

“What you thinking about?”

“Mostly that it is so dark I cannot tell the difference if my eyes are open or shut.”

Suddenly a dead branch snaps in the direction opposite where the other campers are located.

“Hear that Rev?” She asked.

“Yeah. Didn’t sound like it came from one of the other campers.” Rev said and started feeling around in his pack for the bear spray. “There it is. Now I’m locked and loaded.”

“My dad says you can substitute WD-40 for bear spray. Then he says you can also use mustard or mayonnaise because they’ll all be equally effective at stopping a charging bear.” Ohpra said in a quiet voice, like if she said it too loud it would be the cue for a bear to come charging in.

“My dad told me there is not much you can do because they can outrun us. He said he watched a tv show one time about an old man who lived in the outskirts of Canada. The man was visited by both black and grizzly bears. When they would come up to him in a threatening manner he would use his cane to poke them in the nose while saying ‘no!’. Amazingly the bears did not attack him. At least during the filming of the show. My dad says it made sense that he didn’t show any fear so it did not trigger the predator gene in the bears. As most people that know bears; know, they can be as easily spooked as they can be to be aggressive toward you. The only thing dependable about a bear is that you can count on it to be unpredictable.”

More snaps of dead branches. The sound of small pebbles being kicked every once in a while from someone or some thing kicking them along with their feet in the darkness.

“You think that noise out there is a bear?” Ohpra asked.

“I don’t think it is another camper.” Rev replied, also in a quiet tone.
“Is everybody in our tent accounted for?” Noah whispered, apparently now awake also.

“BG? Hey, Big Gulp. Gupper, you awake?” Ohpra whispered while feeling around with her feet for his legs.

“What? Is it time to get up?” BG responded.

“No you idiot!” Rev whispered with annoyance. “There’s something outside our tent again.”

BG suddenly remembered not burying the hotdogs. He wasn’t about to say anything but he suspected his laziness might have gotten them a visit from a bear. Then he had an even bigger reason to worry. He remembered he still had that hotdog package stuck in his back pocket. He could see it now: a giant bear chasing through the camp. It would be tearing through tents looking for that hotdog package wrapper, which had been in his back pocket all that time.

“You worried that might be a bear?” Noah asked the others. “We’re not the only ones camping tonight. There must be half a dozen tents around. You really think a bear would come in with all those people around?”

“I think a bear would not hesitate to march into a sold out stadium if it smelled something it really liked.” Rev answered.

That didn’t make BG feel any too secure. If a bear did happen to find those two hotdogs he threw, and they decided they really liked those hotdogs … Oh no! He thought. I’ve been marinating my own butt out here in bear country, in hotdog juice. I’m a dead man!

“Yeah that is true but at the same time most bears would not choose to go near some place so full of people.” Rev said. “The simple truth is exactly what you said. That the only thing predictable about a bear is that it is unpredictable.”

Then they heard a growl. It was a bear. The growl came from the far side of the campsite. There was a bear loose in the campground but it currently was interested in another group of campers. They were yelling at it to go away. The bear was growling. Then somebody hit it with a rock and the bear started running to get away. Unfortunately it ran straight at BG.

He screamed and took off running with the bear right behind him. Then out of no where the bear was thrown off its feet allowing BG to escape. Everyone could hear some growls and then it sounded like the bear had been hurt. It squealed and then the night was silent. No more crashing through the forest. No more dead branches crunching. Just silence.

The beams of flashlights began to litter the campground as people had come out of their tents. They were trying to make sense of all the screaming, growling and general commotion. Voices could be heard asking if everyone was okay? Did anyone need assistance? Did anybody know where the bear was currently? Did they think it might come back? What kind of bear was it?

After it was determined that nobody had been hurt or was missing the comments heard switched to less sincere replies such as: I saw the bear, it took all my beer, or yeah the bear was here but it left when it heard on our radio that there was a wet t-shirt contest going on at the local tavern, or ‘that wasn’t a bear, it was my ex-wife searching the woods for another husband, (which was followed by someone’s remark that no it was not the guy’s ex-wife because the bear smelled too good for it to be her)
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BG was freaked out beyond consolation. He jabbered on about having hotdog wrappers in his back pocket and how the bigfoot from that afternoon had come from out of nowhere to grab him out of harm’s way. Of course nobody saw anything. Not even BG was sure what it was that came out of the blindside to push him out of the path of that oncoming bear.

The three friends that knew about the bigfoot just chalked his mumbling up to his trauma. Folks in the other tents stopped by to check on them. Some of the people packed up and left, most likely to go home. The four friends talked it over and decided it would be more frightening to walk back to the main campsite in the dark, than it would be to just wait out where they were until morning. They threw some more wood on their dying fire while watching other campers either pack up and leave or those remaining did the same and added more wood to their fires. A couple of tents left lanterns hanging on their front sides. There was also the rattle of empty cans which announced that at least one of the campers had set up a early warning fence which consisted of tying some empty cans to a string which is stretched all the way around a tent, so that if a something were to approach the tent it would trip the early warning system causing the empty cans to rattle against each other.
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There was more noise in the forest surrounding the campground area but no further trouble with a bear. The next morning the four split up and searched the area for prints. They found the bear prints where it had run down the middle of the campground toward BG. Then they followed the prints past the spot where BG left the path of the charging bear. Rev found a track that was in distinct opposition of the bear tracks. The bear tracks were approximately ten inches in length. This track was considerably longer than ten inches. It was no bear track. It was a bigfoot track.

Rev felt a shiver of fear go through him. The bigfoot had seemed like it meant them no harm when they saw it back that afternoon. Obviously it was tracking them. Or at the least was visiting the campground. Then it dawned on him. It was the bigfoot that saved BG. That was what it was that came out of nowhere to push BG out of the path of the charging bear. “Wow. I think BG has the bigfoot to thank for not getting eaten by the bear.”

“What do you mean?” Ohpra asked.

“Remember BG said something blindsided him, causing him to be pushed out of the bear’s path. It must have been the bigfoot. The creature that BG wanted to see go to a zoo, saved his life that very night. What do you think of that Big Gulp?” Rev said with an accusing tone.

“He’s got a point.” Noah chimed in. “Somewhat off subject, but did anyone else notice the eyes on the bigfoot. Did they seem … gentle, to you? I know it sounds kind of crazy to be saying about a beast that is ten feet tall and smells like the bottom of a dirty aquarium but …”

“I totally get what you’re saying.” Ohpra said. “Even when he was standing right over us and I was the most terrified, there was a part of me that knew he wasn’t going to hurt us. It is just very, very hard to trust that feeling when he is so big, and so obviously powerful. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pull a medium size tree out of the ground.”

“No argument about that here. I thought the muscles on his arms were as big as the muscles on a full size horse. Even under that long fur, you could clearly see the muscles rippling. If that isn’t proof enough for you just revisit how fast and agile he was coming up that rope.” Rev said. “You know I wonder what happened to the bear? I didn’t see any tracks leading away from that spot where BG was tackled by the bigfoot. Of course that doesn’t mean he was carried away. It is quite possible he is not far away as we are speaking. Everyone should keep that mind today regardless of what we end up doing.”

Noah sighed and then said, “There are some native American tribes that claim that once a bear has hunted your scent that he never forgets it and will take up the hunt any time he comes in contact with your scent.”

BG immediately thought of the hotdog wrapper he had in his pocket when the bear was chasing him. That thought gave birth to two more thoughts. Did the bear now have the combination scent of him and hotdogs on its mind? Because everything likes hotdogs, especially dogs, which are smaller, friendlier versions of bears. Two: since he had not been able to shower since having that hotdog wrapper in his back pocket, did his rear-end still smell like hotdogs? Which left him with just one further thought which was: that can’t be a good thing.
They packed up their camp to head back to the main campsite. It was a fun three day hike but now they had to check back in with their camp counselors. This third day of the planned hike was mostly downhill. They were all in good spirits. Weather was sunny and beautiful. There was even a slight breeze to stir the air.

Rev thought to himself, ‘man if this was any more perfect there would be a half-dozen dwarfs whistling its off to work we go’. He glanced up at the sun for a moment and then continued the hike back to their main campground.
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“What do you guys want to do once we have checked in? I’m up for some fishing. We could go upstream toward the horseshoe bend.” BG suggested with a pleading look. “I haven’t caught a trout yet. What do you guys say?”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Noah said remembering how he had outfished the others the last time they went. Then he thought how if BG would keep his mouth shut that he would catch a whole lot more fish. BG had the nicest fishing tackle and pole. He had all the sprays and other novelties which were suppose to provide the best circumstance for success. What he didn’t have was the sense to shut his flapping lips. “Anybody want to make a small wager on who catches the most fish?”

BG laughed. “Yeah I will bet you don’t have the right tackle to fish for trout. You also probably don’t have a license.” He was right. Only he and Ohpra had a fishing license that was current. Lucky the game warden seldom would ask to see a license from someone staying at Cherokee campground.

“In any case you don’t need to worry yourself about what sort of fishing tackle or license that I have. Shall we say everybody kicks in ten dollars and whoever has caught the most fish of keeper size by the end of the day, wins the entire forty dollars.” Noah could barely hold back his smile. This might not be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel but it was going to be pretty easy. Actually Ohpra and Rev were both competent fishermen so the only one really at disadvantage was BG.

“You have a bet!” BG replied.

“I’m in.”

“Me too.”

“Who’s going to hold the forty dollars?” Noah asked. Usually it was Ohpra
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“The lady of course.” Rev chimed in
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“Fair enough.” BG confirmed.

The four friends returned to Cherokee campground and grabbed fishing gear. As they were walking out to the fishing spot the sky started having helicopters flying over and around the general area. Four state trooper cars also were in the campground parking lot. Rev asked around and found out that there were two fugitives loose in the area. One had escaped prison and the other had helped by providing an escape vehicle. The police had tracked them to this area.
“Should we go fishing?” Ohpra said to her friends.

“Why not? We have nothing to do with the police business. What could we possibly have to offer the escapees? Surely they wouldn’t want to be slowed down by keeping us as hostages.” Noah said, grabbing his fishing pole. “Lets get started.”

The group of four with their fishing poles started out for the fishing hole they had chosen. Before they got a hundred yards, a state trooper came jogging over. “Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, catching up with the foursome.

Noah was the first to answer. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re going fishing.”

“Well you can go as long as you stay west of this area. Anything back that way is okay.” The trooper said. He had pointed in the direction they were planning on going, so it would all work out just fine.

“No problem officer. We were going in that direction anyway, so I assume it is okay to go then?” Rev asked.

“Yes. Perfect. You should not have any problems if you go that direction. The men we are seeking are known to be beyond this point. So its all good. Good luck, catch a big one for me.” The trooper said, then he gave them a final wave and turned around and walked back the opposite direction.

“Good. Now we can see who is going to win the bet.” BG said.

The group moved on and after a brisk walk they arrived at their favorite fishing spot. Noah had luck there the last time they visited. It was afternoon by the time they got their hooks in the water and it was closer to sunset than noon by the time they caught their first fish that was of legal size to keep. A nice rainbow trout.

“Way to go Rev.” Noah congratulated. “We’ve still got a couple of hours before our contest ends. I’m going to move downstream a ways. Hopefully that is where the big ones are hiding.”

“I’ve got one!” BG exclaimed. “Its a nice one too. Oh crappers! It got off. That was a trophy. Figures …”

Ohpra followed behind Noah, moving further down stream. Neither gave it a second thought that they were now headed back towards the area the state trooper had told them to steer clear. Rev and BG continued to fish for that trophy that BG had get away. It was a fine afternoon. The water was cold. The sun warm on the back of their necks. They even got to catch the occasional trout. Noah had caught two nice rainbow trout that were big enough to keep. Ohpra in an attempt to do better than Noah, had went even further down stream. She had one keeper in her pouch and another one on the line when she saw the two men.

They saw her at the same time. There was no casualness about the situation. As soon as Ohpra saw the men and it was clear they saw her: she took off running back upstream. A quick glance behind her and she could see they were definitely giving pursuit. Ohpra was terrified. She made herself be calm. Panic helps nothing. She made her way back up the stream as quickly as possible. When she got within earshot of Noah she began to cry out.

“Help! Noah! Run for it! Its the men the cops are looking for. Run Noah!” Ohpra would look over her shoulder every few seconds. She could see the two men were slowly gaining on her. She felt lucky there had been as much room between them as had happened. If she would have just been coming over a rise she might have walked right into them. They were probably three football fields back.
She had wandered further than she had first thought. Now it seemed like she was ten miles from her friends but that wasn’t true. Arriving just as that was going through her mind, it seemed Noah was determined to prove differently. Ohpra was never so happy to be wrong. Noah had been on the far side of the stream. When he heard Ohpra screaming he immediately responded. By the time they were together he had heard her broadcast enough times to understand the situation.

Noah ran along side Ohpra helping her when he could. He judged the two men chasing them were about two or more football fields behind them. It was not easy going, they were moving uphill. It was definitely not a straight out sprint type of race. In fact there were probably more spots where you could not run. They had to dodge large rocks, brush growths which were nearly impassible and other assorted obstacles which made it difficult to just run after someone.

By the time Noah and Ohpra made it back to the spot where Rev and BG were fishing, the men that had been chasing them were gone. At least from sight. It was also getting dark as the sun was setting to the west. The coming evening promised to be very comfortable. The sky was clear except for a few clouds. Noah and Ohpra came running up to their friends. While it was true they could no longer see the men it provided a new worry not knowing exactly where they were at. Noah figured as long as he kept up a fast pace that it was unlikely the men would be able to make up enough ground on them to be a concern.
“Hey you guys ready to roll?” Noah said as he and Ohpra came into view.

BG wanted to talk about who won the fishing contest and he started to pull open his basket but Ohpra put a hand on the cover and shook her head no. Then she said, “We need to go now Gupper. We can talk about stuff when we get back to Cherokee campground.”